Folding wall bracket

ABSTRACT

A bracket includes an anchor plate for mounting on the front face of a narrow vertical member such as a stud and having a channel-like opening for pivotally supporting a hanger member. The support member has a pair of fingers spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the vertical member and connected by a cross member integral with the fingers and including an offset central section having a pair of vertical legs. The side legs of the central section are spaced apart less than the width of the vertical member. When the support member is in an extended, operational position, the side legs rest against the vertical front face of the vertical member to limit further downward pivotal movement of the support member under the influence of gravity. The support member pivots upward with respect to the bracket to a retracted storage position where the fingers are stowed adjacent the sides of the vertical member and the side legs limit further rearward movement. In both extended and retracted positions, gravity biasing the support member to remain stable in the absence of position action to displace it.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field Of The Invention

This invention relates to brackets and, in particular to bracketsmovable between a first, operational position and a second, storageposition.

2. Prior Art

Prior art brackets, while providing a pivoted, gravity biased, articlesupport member as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,069 issued Dec. 16,1969 to Larson entitled ARTICLE SUPPORT CONSTRUCTION incorporate nomeans of retraction and storage for the support member or utilize asupport member which detaches when moved to retracted position as shownin U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,526 issued Oct. 20, 1964 to Pawsey entitledHANGER BRACKET. In the case of this latter patent, separate storage mustbe provided for the detached bracket. Thus, the problem of storage isnot effectively solved. Also, the detached bracket member can be lostbetween uses and must be installed when it is again desired to use it.These are among the deficiencies of existing brackets this inventionovercomes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a bracket for mounting on the narrow face of anarrow, vertical support such as a wall stud, the bracket having alowered operational position with fingers projecting outwardly from thesupport and a raised, storage position wherein the fingers are stowedadjacent the sides of the support. The bracket includes an articleengaging arm or hanger member and an anchor plate having a forwardlyoffset mid-portion forming a rearwardly opening channel in the rear faceof the anchor plate. The article engaging arm has a pair of fingersspaced apart a distance greater than the width of the support and anintegral cross member interconnecting the fingers. The central sectionof the cross member is offset from the remaining two end portions of thecross member in an upward direction and connected to the two endportions by a pair of vertical side legs. The width of the offsetportion is less than the width of the face of the support. The center ofthe offset portion is pivotally constrained within the channel in theanchor plate. In the lowered operational position the rearward face ofthe offset portion of the cross member contacts the front face of thesupport. In the storage position, the fingers are positioned above theanchor plate and extend rearwardly along the sides of the supportmember.

The bracket is particularly advantageous because only gravity isrequired to stabilize the hanger member in either its storage oroperational positions. Further, the hanger member can be secured in astored position both when the narrow vertical support member isfreestanding or has a wall at its rear face. If there is no wall, theupward and rearward rotation of the hanger member is limited byengagement of the front face of the central section against the face ofthe vertical member. If there is a wall and the supporting fingers aresufficiently long, upward rotation of the hanger will be limited byfinger contact with the wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a bracket in accordance with anembodiment of this invention, the storage position of the bracket beingshown with phantom lines;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the bracket shown in FIG. 1 againstillustrating storage attitude in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the bracket shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a frontal perspective view of a modified construction for thebracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a bracket 10 mounted on the forward narrow face ofa stud 30 includes an anchor plate 20 and a pivotally attached arm orhanger or, as also referred to herein, support member 11. Anchor plate20 is formed of a generally rectangular, flattened piece of metal with aforwardly offset midportion forming a rearwardly opening channel 23having a generally U-shaped cross section. Channel 23 has a longitudinalaxis in the horizontal direction when anchor plate 20 is mounted on stud30 and divides anchor plate 20 into an upper flange 37a and a lowerflange 37b. A pair of openings 21 and 22 through anchor plate 20 arelocated, one on each side of channel 23, to accommodate screws 26 and27, respectively, for securing anchor plate 20 to stud 30.

Support member 11 can be formed of a generally circular cross sectionwire to rod having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter ofchannel 23 and bent to the configuration herein described. Referring toFIG. 3, support member 11 includes a cross member 14 extending betweenand integrally connecting two protruding fingers 12. Cross member 14includes an offset central section 15 having a pair of vertical legs 13joined by a hinge or pivot portion 19 and at their ends integral withthe end portions 18 of cross member 14. Central section 15 is narrowerthan the stud 30. Accordingly, both legs 13 seat against the front face31 of stud 30. Similarly, at least a portion of the length of endportions 18 is positioned against front face 31. Preferably, allportions of cross member 14 are in a single plane so rotational movementabout the hinge portion 19 is limited by engagement of the cross member14 with the front face 31 of stud 30. Further, the length of the crossmember 14 is such that the fingers 12 are spaced a distance greater thanthe width of the stud.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the fingers 12 have agenerally semi-circular shape. FIG. 4 illustrates a similar supportmember 11a having a pair of generally straight fingers 12a equipped withupwardly inclined ends 17. It will be recognized that the shape of thefingers 12 will be governed in part by the intended use of the bracketand the particular shapes shown are illustrative only.

The construction of the bracket is particularly advantageous inproviding a bracket which is gravity stabilized in both extended,operating position and retracted, storage position. More specifically,fingers 12 extend forwardly of front face 31 when cross member 14 isrotated forwardly and downwardly of channel 23. When fingers 12 arerotated upwardly, rotation continues until either the legs 13 of crossmember 14 strike front face 31 or the ends of the fingers 12 restagainst a wall 32 behind stud 30. Gravity holds supporting member 11 ineither the extended, operational position or the retracted, storedposition. Locating screw openings 21 and 22 on either side of channel 23is advantageous for securing the anchor plate 20.

OPERATION

Mounting of bracket 10 is accomplished by placing support member 11against stud 30, which can be, for example, a 2 × 4 with the central orpivot portion 19 in a horizontal position. Anchor plate 20 is positionedwith the pivot portion 19 and channel 23 coaxial. Screws 26 and 27 areinserted through openings 21 and 23, respectively, mounting bracket 10to the stud 30. Rotating supporting member 11 downward results in thelegs 13 of cross member 14 engaging the front face 31. This is a stableposition and support member 11 is biased into this position by gravity.When the fingers 12 extend from front face 31 into an article supportingoperational position, the center of gravity of the support member isforward of and below the pivot portion 19.

If it is desired to shift the supporting member 11 to storage position,support member 11 is rotated upwardly and rearward until either crossmember 14 engages the front face 31 or the end of fingers 12 (or 12a)engage wall 32. The center of gravity of support member 11 is thenrearward of channel 23, biasing the support member rearwardly. Providinga stable storage position is particularly advantageous because itincreases safety by permitting fingers 12, 12a to be retracted when theyare not in use. This eliminates possible injury to materials andpersonnel.

The anchor plate is illustrated as providing a support member mountingchannel which is open at the rear. This has the advantage of simplicityand economy. If will be recognized that other types of pivotal supportcould be provided for the support member including plates which have achannel closed at the rear.

Various other modifications and variations will no doubt occur to thoseskilled in the art to which this invention pertains. For example, theparticular shape of the fingers may be varied from that disclosedherein. Further, the particular configuration or length of the legs maybe varied from that disclosed herein. These and all other variationswhich basically rely on the teaching through which this disclosure hasadvanced the art are properly considered within the scope of thisinvention as defined by the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows.
 1. A bracket adapted to bemounted on the narrow face of a stud-like support, said bracket having aplate-like base piece adapted to seat against and be secured to thenarrow face of said support, the improvement in said bracket comprising:a one-piece article engaging member having an arm, a base elementextending from said arm, said base element having a first portion and asecond portion generally normal to said first portion and when saidmember is in extended position extending generally parallel to the planeof the base piece and a third element extending from the end of thesecond element generally parallel to said first portion and joined tothe arm, said first portion pivotally secured to said base piece, thesecond portion of the base element being adjacent the base piece and thebase element being dimensioned to space the arm away from the base piecewhereby if said base is dimensioned narrower than the face of thestud-like support and if said second portion of said base element isdimensioned to space the arm to one side of the stud-like support saidsecond portion of said base element is adapted to rest against the faceof the support when the member is in extended operating position and thearm will be above the base piece with the arm seated on one side of thesupport when the member is in retracted storage position, the center ofgravity of the member in extended position biasing if forwardly anddownwardly and the center of gravity of the member biasing it rearwardlywhen the member is in retracted position.
 2. A bracket having aplate-like base piece, the improvement in said bracket comprising: aone-piece article engaging member having an arm and a base elementhaving a first portion and a second portion extending normal to saidfirst portion, and a third portion interconnecting said second portionand said arm and spacing said arm from said base piece, and means onsaid base piece pivotally securing said first portion to said basepiece.
 3. A bracket adapted for mounting on the forwardly offsetvertical face of a laterally narrow support such as a building stud,said bracket having an article engaging arm and an anchor plate, saidanchor plate having a forwardly offset midportion forming a channel inthe rear face thereof flanked by a pair of ears occupying a commonplane, the improvement in said bracket comprising: said arm having apair of spaced fingers: a cross member having a central portion andremaining end portions integral with and interconnecting said fingers; acentral portion of said cross member being offset from the remaining endportions thereof in an upward direction as said bracket is positionedfor receiving a load; said offset central portion being seated in saidchannel and having a pair of side leg portions; whereby said arm ispivotal about said offset central portion from a lowered operatingposition with said fingers projecting outwardly from the support to araised storage position wherein said fingers are seated adjacent thesides of the support; and whereby the legs of said cross member areadapted to be in the plane of said ears and to rest against the verticalforward face of the support in both positions to limit further pivotalmovement under the influence of gravity.
 4. A bracket as recited inclaim 3 wherein said channel has a length less than the width of saidoffset central portion, and said legs are substantially perpendicular tosaid central portion and have a vertical orientation when said articleengaging arm is in a lowered operating position.
 5. In combination, abracket and a narrow vertical member, said bracket adapted to be mountedto the face of said narrow vertical member, said bracket having anarticle support member integrally formed of a wire having a generallycircular cross section, and an anchor plate having an elongated channeland a pair of generally flat flanges extending from opposite sides ofsaid channel, said channel along its length opening toward the rear ofsaid anchor plate and having all cross-sectional dimensions slightlylarger than the cross-sectional dimensions of said article supportmember; said flanges each including an opening for passing mountingscrews to secure said anchor plate; said support member having a pair ofgenerally vertical arms integral with and joined by a cross member, saidcross member being dimensioned to space said arms a greater distancethan the width of the vertical member; said cross member having acentral portion offset in a vertical direction when said support memberis in an operating position, said central portion being dimensionednarrower than the face of the vertical member and wider than the lengthof said channel and being seated in said channel, and said cross memberhaving a pair of vertical leg portions for connecting the extremities ofsaid central portion to remaining end portions of said cross member; andsaid support member, at said central portion being pivotally connectedto said anchor plate for pivotal movement between the operationalposition in which said arms extend forwardly out from the face of thevertical member and the rear face of said cross member is in the planeof said flanges and adapted to seat against the face of the verticalmember below the pivotal connection and a storage position in which theforward face of said cross member is adapted to seat against the face ofthe vertical member above the pivotal connection and said arms projectrearwardly adjacent the sides of the vertical member.
 6. In combination,a bracket and a narrow faced stud-like support, said bracket adapted tobe mounted on the narrow face of said stud-like support, said brackethaving a base plate and an article supporting member, said base platebeing mountable to said narrow face of the support, said member having afirst portion pivotally mountable to said base plate and a secondportion projecting therefrom to provide an article support, said firstportion being dimensioned narrower than the support face and the secondportion having a pair of article support elements and being dimensionedto space apart said elements wider than the support, said member beingpivotable between an extended position with its center of gravityforward of and below the pivotal attachment of said first portion tosaid plate and a retracted position with its center of gravity rearwardof and above the pivotal attachment of said first portion to said platewith said first portion being in the plane of the base plate and adaptedto seat against the face of the support in both positions.